


Delicate Fools

by fullsunrises



Category: NCT (Band), NCT 127 - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, M/M, Set in Europe, Strangers to Lovers, just a cute story, mutual crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-30
Updated: 2019-10-30
Packaged: 2021-01-07 21:47:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21224714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fullsunrises/pseuds/fullsunrises
Summary: All Donghyuck expects to find in Paris during his college trip are museums and overpriced souveniers. He doesn't count on losing his suitcase only to have it returned by a stranger named Mark Lee.prompt # S052





	Delicate Fools

**Author's Note:**

> absolute most thanks (and love) to dee for being my friend and the best beta through it ily <3  
and thank you to vic for always helping,, you're my fave fic buddy 
> 
> to the prompter i hope you enjoy it!

Donghyuck couldn’t believe it. The envelope sat torn and discarded on the table, it’s content spread out in front of him. Next to him sat Jen o, a similar envelope in front of him. When he applied for the program it was mostly on a whim, a random urge to see another country through the eyes of someone who lived there; to experience it the way he experienced Seoul. 

“I still can’t believe 1 didn’t get accepted,” Chenle pouted, standing at Donghyuck's shoulder and reading the papers in front of them. 

Donghyuck ignored him, feeling slightly overwhelmed by the fact that he would be living, living, in another country for two months. At least he’d have Jeno with him and truthfully, he didn’t think he would have gone if both his friends were rejected. 

Finally snapping out of it, he turned to Jeno and grinned.  
“I hope you are ready to help me look cute every single day I can’t walk around Europe looking like I just woke up.”

“Stop taking advantage of me,” Jeno grumbled. He picked up the sheaf of papers in front of him and slid them back into his envelope. He started walking out of the common room, Chenle next to him. 

Donghyuck jumped up, snatching his papers and catching up with them.  
“What’s the point of studying fashion if you can’t help your friends look fashionable?” he said, following them out of the common room. 

“It’s because I have to do it for free!” 

“Well, I already introduced you to Renjun what more could you possibly want from me. Love is worth more than money,” he said solemnly. 

Jeno and Chenle stopped dead to look at him.  
“It is?” Chenle said. “Huh i never would have thought.”

Jeno burst out laughing at this, looking between Donghyuck and Chenle.  
Hyuck scowled at him. 

“Stop it,” he smacked Jeno's shoulder. “Remember when you were shy to talk to Renjun? And now you’re grossly in love. I think it’s only fair that you make me look cute which would equal to me finding someone to love which means that we will be square,” he grinned, rather pleased at himself because he knew Jeno would end up saying yes.

“Fine, fine,” Jeno wheezed out between laughs. 

“Why are you still laughing that wasn’t even funny,” Donghyuck said, turning back in the direction they were walking.  
Still giggling, Jeno joined him, Chenle next to him as they made their way back to their dorm rooms. 

________________________

Mark was, in truth, nervous. He’s been discussing this with his parents for the better part of a month and knowing their final verdict would come tonight didn’t help ease his nerves. They were open minded most of the time but this was a very big request on his part, something that he knew took a lot of planning and financial help from his parents even on top of the money he earned from working one full time job during the summer and 2 part time jobs during the school year. 

His suitcase was already waiting, empty and anticipatory in the corner of his room. He’d done everything right, got tickets he could cancel and get the refund from, planned it down to the shortest car trip. It wasn’t that he lacked responsibility, rather that his parents didn’t lack enormous amounts concern for him, living and travelling so far away from them for months. The crucial piece of information that persuaded them to let him go in the first place was Jaehyun, Mark’s close friend whom he’d known all the way from primary school — who had also moved to Europe for work. Mark would be able to stay by him, eliminating the stress and cost of accommodation for the first half of his trip and it helped that his parents trusted Jaehyun to the end of the earth. 

Too nervous to even sit, he just walked around his room running through his head what he needed to say to his parents just to finally tip them over and in his favour.  
He did this for half an hour, occasionally stopping at his window and resting his forehead against the cool glass to try and calm down. He wondered how Jaemin was faring, 4 houses down from his.  
They’d planned this trip together at the end of high school and the drag of the year up to this point had frayed their nerves, scared that their carefully constructed trip would fall to pieces. 

“Mark,” his mother voice called out to him, pulling him out of his own head.  
He jerked upright, seeing the fog on the glass around where he leaned on it. Smiling to himself he drew a tick on the fog and walked out of his room. 

They're going to say yes, he thought over and over again as he walked to the kitchen.  
His parent were sitting there, faces carefully blank with mugs of tea in front of them. Something was clutched in his mother’s hand, he couldn’t see what it was but for some reason it made him more nervous. He eyed them carefully before sitting down, but before his was even fully seated his mother slid his passport to him across the table.  
Looking up from the small book, he saw his parents grinning at him.  
“We had to make you sweat a little,” his father shrugged.  
There were very few times mark had wanted to cry in his life, but now was one of those times. His throat hurt and he stumbled around the counter to throw his arms around them. 

___________________

Little under an hour later he was already fully packed. As he was organizing the last things for his flight his phone buzzed, a message from Jaemin popping up on the screen 

jaemin: [they said yes :D the talk dragged  
on for so long i really thought  
it was going to be a no]

mark: [i feel like i knew my parents were messing with me] 

jaemin: [hshsh liar you even called Jaehyun  
and said you might have to cancel] 

mark: [well...deep down i knew okay]

jaemin: [whatever shut up meet me in 10 minutes]

mark: [rude but,,,,,okay]

Mark slipped the last of his things into a folder before hurriedly getting ready to meet Jaemin. He glanced one more time at his packed bags before leaving his room ,his grin never slipping once. 

Donghyuck walked down the stairs after Jeno, hauling his suitcase behind him. It kept falling and hitting the walls making him curse every few steps. 

“There’s only one more flight to go Hyuck can you calm down,” Jeno said, voice floating back to him. 

Donghyuck considered throwing the suitcase at him.  
“I’m trying. Have you even seen the size of this thing.”

“No one told you to choose the biggest suitcase known to mankind.”

“ Well, no one told you to have the biggest mouth known to mankind,” he said back, barely putting any effort into his words, all energy gone into trying not to fall down the stairs. 

Jeno gave him a withering look over his shoulder, gone barely noticed. 

Twelve curse words later Donghyuck was standing at the base of the stairs, looking up at the building in front of him.  
“Two months until we see this again. It doesn’t feel real.”

“You’ve never flown anywhere before right?” Jeno asked as they started walking to the meeting point.  
“Are you nervous?”

“No,” He scoffed. “Why would I be?”

Jeno raised an eyebrow at him.  
“You just seem like you’d be. Doesn’t matter.”

In truth Donghyuck wasn’t nervous at all. He wasn’t nervous to fly for the first time, 11 straight hours in a plane until they landed in Paris. He wasn’t scared to live in another country for 2 months, with only his classmates and Jeno for company. He was just excited. It was the purest form of the feeling, a swirl of curiosity and interest, the urge to see what he’d never seen before and enjoy it unrestricted. He knew Jeno was beside himself with excitement too, no matter how calm and collected he tried to act. 

There was truly nothing like being young and knowing you would be free from the rules and routine of your daily life. 

The rest of their classmates were gathered on the grass outside the building. Donghyuck spotted Renjun there, clearly waiting to say goodbye before they boarded the bus to the airport. He waved violently at him, his backpack slipping down his shoulder and catching on his wrist.

“Ow,” he muttered, dropping his bags next to a still walking Jeno before jogging towards Renjun. Behind him, he heard Jeno calling him back, threatening to just leave his bags there until he picked them up himself.

Donghyuck and Renjun had been friends for years. When Renjun moved next door to him nine years ago, he was shy and withdrawn, having just immigrated to the country.  
Hyuck saw him from the window of his room, playing alone in the garden and never bringing friends over.  
He’d felt bad for him and one day purposefully threw something over the fence that separated their gardens so he'd have an excuse to talk to him. Quickly, Renjun took a liking to him and they became fast friends. In those initial days, Renjun was quiet with him and Hyuck assumed it was because of his discomfort with speaking Korean. So instead of pushing him to talk, he’d asked Renjun to teach him Mandarin and from then their friendship spiralled, until they were as close as brothers.

“ I’m going to miss you,” Donghyuck whined, flinging an arm around Renjun and dropping his head onto his shoulder.

“I’ll be there soon,” Renjun patted his head. “I wish I could have been there from the start but you'll probably call me every day anyway. And it’s only a week until I join you.”

“Can you even imagine me going to museum after museum with Jeno? He’ll get bored and leave me alone!”

“Hyuck you do know that this is a school trip right,” Renjun laughed. “You’ll be going everywhere with a bunch of other kids who also love art.”

“Yeah but I won’t be going with the main art boy. That’s you. Our resident art prodigy. I don't want to hang out with these Warhol lovers.”

“Still don't know what you have against him.”

“So many things,” Hyuck said, then yelped as he felt someone smack him across the back of his head.

“ I’m not your slave,” Jeno grumbled, lightly shoving him.

“What kid of friend-“ Hyuck cut off as Renjun flung himself at Jeno.  
He eyed the two of them “Are you two going to kiss in front of me?” 

“Yes,” Jeno grinned at him over Renjun’s shoulder. 

“Disgusting,” Hyuck mumbled, turning around to pick up his bags before walking to the rest of their assembled classmates. He saw Jongho, Yangyang and Lia standing together and talking, bags crowded around their feet.

“Hyuck!” Jongho said happily seeing him walk towards them. 

“Hey, sorry we’re late Jeno wouldn't help me carry my bags,” he said, still slightly salty towards Jeno. 

“I think we’re almost ready to go, the professors just went into the building to get something and they said we’ll leave as soon as they're back.”

“Im really glad Professor Suh is coming with us. He's so chilled out I'm sure he’ll let us have fun,” Yangyang said, sounding hopeful.

“Yeah well, maybe being in Paris will mean that he and Professor Kim will finally admit that they like each other, which we all know they do,” Hyuck said.

“No way Professor Suh likes Professor Kim, I don’t believe that,” Yangyang said.

“Wanna bet?” Hyuck said. “ I’m literally a hundred percent sure they like each other. Why do you think they're the two Professors who just happen to be taking us on this trip where one of the cities is the city of love?”

“You’re hundred percent sure who likes each other?” Jeno said, finally walking up to them, holding hands with Renjun. 

“Professor Kim and Professor Suh!” 

“ I’m with Hyuck,” Lia said. “They’re always making heart eyes at each other and the other day I even saw them off campus together.”

“So? People can be friends,” Yangyang countered.

“Okay fine it looks like it’s me and Lia against the rest of you,” Hyuck said to them. “We can decide what the losers do later.”

“Deal,” Yangyang grinned at him, high fiving Jeno.

“ I’m not getting involved,” Jongho said. “I don't think I've ever thought about our Professors love lives.”

“Well fine, so its Hyuck and Lia against me and Jeno. That’s fair too,” Yangyang said.

“Wait what about Renjun?” Lia turned to look at him. “He’s still coming on the trip.”

Donghyuck and Jeno both turned to stare at Renjun, who awkwardly cleared his throat.

“ I’m with Jongho, true neutral,” he said, not interested in agitating Hyuck or Jeno further.

“Oh my god they're here,” Jongho said, as the two Professors walked out of the building, clutching thick folders that probably held all the important documents they needed for this trip.

“Everyone come on,” Professor Suh called out, starting to walk towards the bus.

Everyone said their goodbyes to Renjun before leaving to follow the professor.

“We’ll see you soon,” Hyuck said to Renjun giving him a quick hug.  
“Call me when you land okay,” Renjun replied, smiling at Hyuck before he gathered up his bags and ran after his friends. 

Jeno appeared next to him as several moments later.  
The two friends grinned at one another, their journey finally taking off.

Several hours later, the students boarded the plane. Most of them were seated close to each other, other passengers scattered throughout the cabin.

Donghyuck squeezed through the narrow aisle, aiming for his seat several rows down. He was sitting next to Jeno and Yangyang, having been quite lucky with their seats as well as a bit of swapping with Sunwoo, who was easily convinced to switch places with Yangyang from two rows in front of them. 

Donghyuck pulled a couple of things out of his backpack before tossing it into the overhead locker. Next to him was another boy, using the same locker to stuff two bags into. 

“Hey, I really like your backpack! You like Red Velvet?” Donghyuck grinned at him, but the boy just turned to him with a weird look before going to his seat, in the row in front of theirs. 

“Well no need to be unfriendly,” he murmured under his breath, eyeing the boy as he squeezed into his seat. The window seat might he add. 

He settled in, looking forward to the flight ahead of him. A flight attendant handed out tiny booklets with the menu for the flight and what they could buy. Hyuck tossed it aside, he and his friends had stuffed their backpacks with snacks after entering the airport and after all the complaints he'd heard about plane food he was extra glad to have his own bag filled with things he liked. 

“Do you want to watch a movie together?” Jeno asked him. “ I’ve got a headphone adapter,” he held up the small plastic adapter.  
“Sure,” Hyuck said, pulling his earphones out of his pocket and plugging them in. “But I get to choose the first movie.”

“As long as it’s not Mamma Mia,” Jeno said, settling down comfortably and turning his screen on.

“I wouldn't dare,” Hyuck said in mock sincerity. In truth that was the first movie that came into his head but there were plenty of other choices too.  
Soon he and Jeno came to an agreement, and by the time the plane was in the air they were well into it, Hyuck’s head resting on Jeno’s shoulder, Jeno already on his second snack. 

The rest of the flight passed by in much the same way, Hyuck, Jeno and Yangyang tearing through their snacks, making the most of the offered drinks and trying to stop themselves from throwing things at Lia and Jongho in the next row. 

They finally landed in Paris, exhausted from not sleeping during the flight and bodies swaying from the jet lag. They rushed off the plane, Hyuck scrambling to collect all the stuff he'd carelessly stuffed into the seat pocket. Jeno, still trying to recover from being abruptly woken up from his last minute nap, reached up and pulled their bags out of the locker. 

They walked to the baggage claiming area, Hyuck grumbling about how Professor Seo still managed to look good after such a long flight. The students crowded around the conveyor belt, Hyuck trying to spot his huge generic black suitcase by squinting at the name tags of every bag that appeared.  
Finally Hyuck saw his, red tag attached to the handle. He grabbed it, arms still feeling weak from exhaustion and joined the rest of the students.  
After grabbing their bags they were rushed out, all 8 students yawning and pulling their bags behind them as they tried to keep up. Professor Seo was staying in Paris, so it was Professor Kim that led them out of the building and to the train station that would then take them to another train station where they would finally leave for Amsterdam.

Half of them still had to commute all the way to Amsterdam, while the other half of the group stayed in Paris. They would join up after 5 days, having different things to do initially depending on which part of the program they were part of. 

(Hyuck was lucky to have Jeno and Yangyang with him, and once they were in Paris - for another 10 days - Renjun would join them.)

After several more long and tiring hours, they finally arrived at their hotel in Amsterdam, a small pretty building that looked like it couldn't possibly have more than 5 rooms. The checking in process took quicker then Donghyuck expected it to, and soon they were all tumbling into bed.

Mark and Jaemin, in comparison, were very relaxed. After they collected their luggage, they followed Jaehyun’s instructions on what to do to get to his apartment. 

His apartment was small, but just big enough that four fully grown men wouldn't feel like they were all living on top of one another. There were two bedrooms, Mark and Jaemin would take the other, that Jaehyun and Doyoung (Jaehyun’s fiancé who Mark had met a few times before and couldn't help but like. Doyoung and Jaehyun were good for each other Mark thought) used mostly as an extra closet.

While Jaemin had a cup of coffee, a little inappropriate for this time of the night Mark thought, he sat and talked to Jaehyun catching him up on everything that was happening back home. Jaehyun was very invested in Mark’s current story about how Kun had finally stopped pretending he didn't like Ten when Mark jumped up.

“Kun sent you something,” he said to Jaehyun. “I should probably give it to you now before I forget.”

He pulled his huge suitcase into the middle of the living room, almost crushing Doyoung’s foot and causing him to swear profusely at mark.

Mark fiddled with the lock for a whole minute, wondering why his usual combination wasn't working and when he’d changed it. 

“Are you okay? Whats happening?” Jaehyun slid down onto the floor to help him.

“This stupid thing is stuck. I knew i shouldn't have bought such a cheap lock,” Markpulled on the lock hoping it would just pop open.

“Who’s Donghyuck?” Jaehyun asked.

“What? I don't know. Can you help me?” Mark said, annoyed at Jaehyun for just sitting there instead of helping him.

“Donghyuck. That’s what it says here,” Jaehyun unclipped the tag from around the handle and thrust it into Mark’s face.

“Dont shove things in my face,” Mark grumbled, taking the tag from Jaehyun.

He read the tag, understanding quickly flooding into him. He'd taken someone else’s bag.  
Someone named Lee Donghuck. 

He had absolutely no idea how he'd find out who accidentally took his suitcase and it was way too late to go back to the airport now. 

“I took the wrong bag,” he said in horror. “Anyone could have my bag. How am I supposed to find it?” he asked, his voice laced with panic at the thought of all of his clothes and belongings, everything, gone with no way of knowing whether he'd be able to get it back.

“Oh my god,” Jaemin said coming up to him, taking the tag and reading it. “What are you going to do?”

“Well, I think that I should call this person? They're probably going through the same thing that I am right now.”

“Hmm good idea. I wonder if maybe they've got your bag.”

“That would just be way too lucky,” Mark said, picking up his phone and typing in the number on the tag.

“Wait,” Jaemin stopped him, pointing to the number neatly written on the tag. “This is a Korean number, they wrote the country code.You can send them a message on this number.”

“We should just sleep on it,” Jaehyun yawned, getting up and stretching. 

“Yeah,” Mark mumbled, reattaching the tag to the suitcase and wondering what he was going to do. He hoped Jaemin was open to sharing clothes.

\--------

“Jeno, what the hell!” Donghyuck screamed, flipping open the suitcase in front of him open.  
“This isn't my bag,” he looked up at Jeno, panic in his eyes.

“How did you get it open then?” Jeno was munching on some leftover snacks, not giving Donghyuck his full attention. 

“The code was 1234 it wasn’t that hard to figure out. It belongs to someone named Mark Lee.”

“But if it wasn't your bag why did you try to open it?”

“Can you stop interrogating me. I’m curious and stressed okay, I needed to double check.”

“Double check what?” Jeno rolled his eyes. “You’re just inquisitive.”

“Liar,” Donghyuck shoved at Jeno’s leg. He looked over the bag again, starting to feel more guilty by the second. Whoever the bag belonged to had nice clothes, he noted. Resisting the urge to snoop further, Donghyuck flipped the top of the bag back down.

“His number and email are written here,” he told Jeno, tugging on the tag attached to the handle. “Hold on, I should probably message him right away I mean he's going to be stressed and I know I’m stressed all my favourite clothes were in there and you know everything oh my god,” Donghyucks voice got more and more panicked as he talked.

“Hey don't worry, I’m sure whoever got your bag is going to want to return it as well,” Jeno tried to console him.

Donghyuck mumbled a response, pulling out his phone and typing in the number written on the tag. He chewed his lip while he composed a text, feeling a little awkward to call a stranger by their name.

“Done,” he said, pressing send.  
Almost instantly his phone dinged with a reply from Mark.

“That was fast,” Jeno raised his eyebrows, leaning into Donghyuck and looking at the message Mark sent.

“Stop I can’t see,” Donghyuck said, pushing at Jeno’s shoulder until he relented.

He read Marks message: Thanks for messaging me I was so worried. 

No problem. Is there some way you can collect it? Im in amsterdam 

definitely! ill let you know soon. by the way whats your name

its donghyuck :) 

donghyuck? I think i have your suitcase as well?? 

Donghyuck’s eyes widened as he saw the picture Mark sent.  
“He has my bag! What are the chances.”

“ That’s really lucky,” Jeno agreed. “Hey ask him to send a picture of himself.”

“No thats weird,” he replied, looking down at his phone as he got another text from Mark.

Are you still there? Im going to try and be there later today. Thanks again  
Oh and btw do you want to send me a picture of yourself, just so i know who im looking for?

“ It’s like he read my mind,” Jeno grinned. “Now he’ll have to send you one too.”

“I can't send a picture of me to a stranger what if he's an old man or something.”

“I really don't think he's an old man Hyuck. You saw his clothes which old man dresses like that.”

“Maybe old people who are trying to feel young again?”

Jeno looked at him incredulously. “Just send the picture.”

“Fine,” Donghyuck said, grumbling and pulling up his pictures trying to find something decent. Jeno kept pointing out pictures that he thought were good but Donghyuck hated every single one of them. He wanted to make a good impression even though part of him was still thinking what if he is a weird old man.

Finally he settled on a picture of him sitting on the beach, the sun lighting up his face and making the water behind him sparkle. He remembered Renjun taking it when they went to the coast for the day.

“ How’s this?” he asked Jeno. “ It’s decent right? And you can see my face clearly so I guess he won’t have trouble recognising me.”

“I love this one, Renjun took it right? He's so good at taking pictures,” Jeno beamed.

“ Ill take that as a yes,” he sent the picture to Mark.

Here you go :) Can you send one too? I don't want to be surprised when any old men walk up to me 

“Why would you say that,” Jeno said in horror, reading everything Donghyuck sent.

“ It’s kind of funny,” he shrugged. His phone dinged.

:o are you a model?

“What the hell,” Jeno burst out laughing. “Is he joking?” he choked out.

Donghyuck stared at the screen in disbelief. Mark was definitely joking. 

“I- did he,” Jeno wheezed, unable to form coherent sentences.

“Can you shut up. You're absolutely no help. What am I supposed to say to this?” he said to Jeno who enjoyed laughing at Donghyuck way too much.

“Okay okay,” Jeno breathed in trying to calm himself down. “At least he ignored the old man thing.”

Before they had a chance to formulate a reply Donghyuck got another message from Mark. He could see that it was a picture. Strangely, he was nervous to open it. He'd only known Mark for a total of about 6 minutes, so why was he feeling nervous?

“What are you waiting for,” Jeno nudged his arm. “Open it.”

Donghyuck opened the message and stared at the picture Mark has sent him.

“He is an old man oh my god,” he said, looking at the picture in despair. “ I’m texting an old man.”

Jeno looked like he was on the verge of laughing again. “ There’s no way this is real,” he said.

A series of pings came from his phone, Mark sending him several more messages.

haha im just joking :D I saw what you said earlier and guessed you were worried that i was an old man

this is me (for real this time)

[picture attached]

“Wow he’s really cute. And pretty funny, you should have seen your face when he sent that picture,” Jeno said, grabbing Donghyuck’s phone and looking at the picture Mark sent.

“He is a little cute maybe,” Donghyuck agreed.  
“Oh he sent another text,” Jeno handed his phone back.  
Quickly, Donghyuck and Mark finalized where and when they would meet before Donghyuck tossed his phone onto the bed next to him and groaned.  
“He just had to be cute didn’t he.”

——

Hours later, as the evening was setting in, Donghyuck was sitting at a small cafe close to their hotel, picking at his nails and praying Mark would get there soon. The school didn’t have more than one trip planned per day so this was free time but Donghyuck still felt on edge, as if he’d get in trouble for accidentally taking someone else’s bag. 

He and Jeno arrived a few minutes earlier and he’d already downed one coffee, the caffeine just worsening his nerves.  
“That was a bad idea,” he mumbled to himself.  
He just hoped he wasn’t sweating. 

Jeno on the other hand was having the time of his life. He’d connected to the cafes wifi and was telling Renjun what had happened. Donghyuck was forced to endure Renjun alternately laughing at him and asking questions about Mark, which made no sense because he hadn’t even met him yet.  
He was about to order another drink, thinking maybe something chocolatey would calm him down when he saw Mark.  
At first glance he didn’t even recognize Mark rather noticing his suitcase being pulled along behind him. Another taller boy walked next to him, squinting at Donghyuck as if he was trying to figure out who he was.

Mark and his friend stopped next to their table, Mark breathing a little hard as if he’d walked here as fast as he could. “Donghyuck?” he asked. 

Donghyuck wiped his hands on his jeans and stood up. He heard Jeno fall silent, but he was sure Renjun was still on the call, both of them waiting to see what was going to happen.  
“That’s me,” he grinned. “Thanks for bringing my bag.”  
“Thanks for not stealing mine,” Mark laughed back pushing Donghyuck’s bag towards him. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was in fact his.  
“Do you want to, uh stay and have coffee with us or something?” He heard himself ask, not even aware of the fact that he wanted this stranger to stay and talk to him.  
“Yeah that sounds great. Oh this is Jaemin by the way,” he poked the boy standing next to him.  
Jaemin flashed him an excruciatingly brilliant smile, making Donghyuck blink in surprise. 

“Wait, you're the boy with the Red Velvet backpack?” he said, looking at Jaemin and remembering him from the plane.  
That means that Mark and Jaemin had been two rows in front of him the whole flight, the coincidence making his head spin.

“Yeah! You like them too?” Jaemin asked, pulling off the backpack he was currently wearing to show them the front. Sure enough it was the same one. He briefly remembered the way Jaemin had ignored him on the plan, but pushed away the thought in favour of not judging him on that one moment. 

After Donghyuck’s backpack moment everyone sat down awkwardly, a current of faint discomfort running between them, highlighting the fact that none of them knew each other at all. Jeno broke the ice by ordering a bunch of things to eat and soon everyone was sipping on cold drinks and talking easily. Once they were more comfortable both Mark and his friend seemed a lot less intimidating than they had a few moments ago and Donghyuck enjoyed their company. Fortunately Jeno had cut the call with Renjun soon after Mark and Jaemin decided to stay and eat so that took care of at least one problem. 

Jaemin gave them a quick run through of how he and Mark decided to come to Europe for a while.  
“We’re here with our university,” Jeno explained. “It’s the art departments annual trip. Actually after this we’re going to Paris. We should try to meet up there again,” he exclaimed. He’d clearly warmed up to them very fast. 

“Sounds good,” Mark smiled at Donghyuck. “My friend lives there so I can even take you around a little. He’s even got a car.”

“I guess. We’re going to be busy most of the days with the class trips and everything but maybe when we’re free...” he trailed off. 

“Great! You and Mark already have each other’s numbers and it’ll be fun to plan something,” Jaemin said. He turned back to Jeno, his bright laugh floating across the table every now and then. 

“So you’re an art major?” Mark asked Donghyuck. 

“Yeah mostly visual arts,” he replied feeling awkward. Making small talk with strangers was not his strong suit and Mark kept trying to make eye contact with him which made it much worse.  
Instead he turned his attention to the pastry sitting in front of him, picking at the flaky crumbs scattered around it. 

“It’s a lot of fun and there’s a bunch of perks. I mean we got to come to Amsterdam and then later Paris, it’s amazing. Uh what about you? What are you planning on studying?”

“ I’m not sure yet, to be honest I don’t even know what I like enough to study you know. I’m taking a gap year this and I guess I hope by the end of the year I’ll figure it out.”

Donghyuck raised an eyebrow at that. “There’s nothing you like enough to major in? Choosing a major sucks but you can always change it if you really don’t like it.”

“I mean i’m really into music but I can’t major in that.”

“Why not?”

Mark shrugged, looking a little sad at the thought. 

“It just isn’t, I need to do something career wise,” he paused ,” like accounting.”

“Ew accounting,” Donghyuck scrunched up his nose. 

Mark laughed at that and Donghyuck found himself laughing along. 

“It does sound boring compared to music,” Mark said, still smiling. 

At this point, Donghyuck found himself thinking that maybe he could be friends with Mark - real friends.  
After all they were all from Seoul and had a lifetime of opportunity in front of them.  
Jaemin, hearing Mark and Donghyuck talking jumped into the conversation talking about how Mark was also really good at rapping and the four of them slipped into easy banter so much that any passerby would think they’ve been friends for years. 

————

The scream Jeno let out when he saw Renjun stepping off the train turned at least 10 heads and Donghyuck felt embarrassed to even be standing next to him. 

“At least try to pull yourself together,” he muttered to Jeno.  
Renjun walked towards them pulling his suitcase behind him, almost knocking someone who was heading into the train. 

“Missed me?” he laughed, hugging both Jeno and Donghyuck. 

“We barely noticed you were gone,” Donghyuck said, having flashbacks to every single outing they had where Jeno hadn’t been able to stop mentioning Renjun and pointing out everything he thought he’d like. 

“Everyone is waiting outside. We volunteered to come and get you ,” Jeno said, grabbing Renjun’s suitcase for him. 

Outside they all scrambled into the waiting bus filled with the rest of the class, Renjun getting scolded almost immediately by Mr Suh for leaning over the seats and almost falling onto Yangyang’s lap. 

“Nice to meet you too,” Yangyang laughed, trying to push Renjun back over the seat by his head. 

“So how was Amsterdam?” Renjun asked, finally seated properly next to Jeno. 

“Amazing,” Donghyuck said. Between him and Jeno they filled Renjun in on everything that had happened.

“So,” Renjun dropped his voice. “Are you going to meet Mark in Paris?”

“Why are you whispering it’s not a secret that we met him?” Jeno asked. 

“Do you really think the teachers are going to be okay with you meeting a stranger you’ve only met once before while they’re supposed to be looking after you?” Renjun pointed out. 

“You make a good point,” Jeno shrugged. “But Mark is literally from Seoul and he’s almost our age too.”

“I think Renjun is right, I don’t know how well this would go down with the teachers,” Donghyuck said and glanced over at Mr Suh who was talking with the driver.  
Mr Suh was really relaxed as far as lecturers go but he still didn’t want to push it if he could help it.  
And anyway Donghyuck didn’t particularly want to talk about this on a bus full of students who likely wouldn’t have left him and his friends alone for one-second if they knew.  
The lecturers had already planned a field trip to a museum for today and everyone had thick packs of notes handed out to them. 

“This is going to be so much fun,” Donghyuck said, grabbing Renjun’s arm. “I’ve always wanted to go to the museums here.”

“And look,” Renjun pulled a smaller bag out of his backpack. “I brought my camera. I’m going to get such good pictures,” he grinned, pulling out and switching on his camera and playing around with it.  
Renjun was Jeno and Donghyuck’s main source of good quality photos, he was trying to build up a portfolio and the two of them were never hesitant to let him take pictures of them. 

Donghyuck still vividly remembered applying for an art degree with Renjun, the two of them having meticulously built up their portfolios during the final year of high school. Now here they were staring at paintings from artists they’d admired and drawn inspiration from their whole lives.  
“How’s it going?” Donghyuck looked over Renjun’s shoulder at the drawing he was currently working on. 

“This is harder than I thought it would be,” he said, lifting his pencil and looking around at the other students scattered around them.  
His hand was smudged with charcoal from where he kept dragging his pencil across it.  
“I mean there’s already so much pressure on us to draw something in six hours and they want me to base it around that?” he gestured to the painting hanging in front of them. 

“I know what you mean. I’m already on my second attempt! The first one was a disaster,” Jeno said, sighing at his paper, a rough sketch visible on it.  
“I’m definitely not majoring in anything like this next year.”

“At least you have other talents I’ll be stuck trying to draw people for the rest of my life,” Donghyuck groaned, thinking of how bad he was at anatomy. 

“You wanna swap drawings?” Renjun asked conspiratorially, eyeing the badly drawn torso peeking out of the mess of sketched lines on Donghyuck’s paper. 

“Gladly. I can handle landscapes very well,” he said, not even waiting for Renjun to reply before he swapped their pieces of paper. 

“Just try to draw in my style please,” Renjun said before taking an eraser to all of Donghuck’s efforts from the last hour. 

He winced as he watched Renjun wipe away an hour of agony, but felt much better after he looked at Renjun’s work and took his own eraser to it. 

———-

To Lee Donghyuck, five days in Paris was enough to fulfill his dreams, short and crammed with work as they may be. He was surrounded by people he loved and doing the kind of work he loved.  
Everyday he’d go out with his friends and spend exorbitant amounts of money on food and much smaller amounts of money on absolutely everything else.  
Given the free reign that they were after doing what they needed to, they took to the streets with a renewed energy, forgetting the hours they’d previously spend hunched over paper and paints and charcoal.  
On the third day, in the middle of his second dessert already, he got a text from Mark, a little overdue in his opinion but welcomed nonetheless.  
Five minutes later and he’d already told Mark where to meet him and his friends, the friends in question stuffing their faces and trying not to make it look like they were holding hands under the table every so often.  
He smiled when Mark said he’d see him a couple of hours, looking forward to seeing him once more.  
_______

Donghyuck sat alone on the bench, watching Renjun and Jeno drift around the park, their hands interlinked.  
He leaned his head against the back, watching the sky become bright with colour as the sun got closer to the horizon.  
The moon was already out, a sliver of white that looked almost translucent in this light.  
Vaguely he stored the image away in the corner of his brain that filed all the things he wanted to paint someday.  
“Hyuck!” he heard a voice float towards him, snapping him out of his reverie.  
Rolling his head to the side, he saw Jaemin and Mark walking towards him, Jaemin waving frantically. 

“Hey,” he called out, getting up off the bench to meet them.  
He couldn’t help but notice that Mark looked rather cute but he quickly banished the thought, falling in step with them.  
“Where’s Jeno?” Mark looked around the rapidly darkening park.  
“Oh he’s with Renjun. Who, I actually you haven’t met yet, he’s here with us now,” Donghyuck said, pulling his phone out of his pocket and messaging Jeno. 

After waiting around a few minutes, Jeno and Renjun appeared.  
Introductions went quickly, Renjun wasn’t shy to strangers and it was pleasant to spend the rest of the evening in a group.  
“Are you enjoying Paris?” Mark asked Donghyuck later that evening. The two of them were walking along a broad street lined with stores, the others a little further way back.  
“It’s great so far. I’ve always wanted to come here for holiday and just spend hours in the museums. I don’t know how much I like the food, but the desserts and pastries and stuff are amazing. I’m probably like 2 kilos heavier and it’s only our third day here.”

“The best part about staying with someone from home is we eat home cooked food most of the time. It really makes it nicer if you’re staying for a while.”

“That’s lucky. You should have invited me for a meal then,” Donghyuck joked, bumping Marks arm with shoulder playfully. 

“Only if you aren’t expecting me to cook. Jaehyun is so  
possessive over his kitchen,” Mark laughed.  
(And Donghyuck realised he liked the sound of Mark’s laugh so much and he hung onto it after it had passed through the cool air) 

“I’ll have to wait until we’re back in Korea then,” he said back, and even though he fully expected to carry his friendship with Mark back home, he was hit with the realization of what he was saying. He wanted to be friends with Mark (and Jaemin too) all the way from here to Korea and then some. 

“I’m looking forward to it,” Mark said, brushing his hand against Donghyuck’s. 

The instant rush of blood to his face mortified him, and he turned back around looking the way they’d come. 

“Uh where are the others?” he asked, only now realizing that they were alone on the street. 

“Knowing Jaemin they probably got stuck in some store,” Mark said. “Come on.”  
He grabbed Donghyuck’s hand a little too casually (now he was blushing even harder than before who did Mark think he was) and led him back down the street. 

They passed several stores, all lit warmly from the inside - the same way Donghyuck was starting to feel inside after approximately one minute of holding Mark’s hand. 

Finally they found the others in a clothing store, Renjun sitting on a chair inside while Jaemin and Jeno alternately popped out of an area that could only be the changing rooms; each time with a different piece of clothing on and each time asking for Renjuns opinion. 

“Oh thank god,” Renjun said when he saw Donghyuck and Mark walk in.  
“Can you tell them to chill out a little Jeno is about to spend as much money here as he paid for the entire years tuition.”

“I don’t know,” Donghyuck said as Jeno appeared again wearing a new jacket. “That’s a really nice jacket.”

“Amazing. And Jaemin is just as bad as Jeno. How did I get stuck with the two of them?” Renjun complained. 

“Jeno is your boyfriend Renjun,” Donghyuck pointed out. 

“You present solid facts only Hyuck. Anyway what were the two of you doing?” he asked. 

“We didn’t even realise you guys had stopped! We just kept going and then luckily I happened to turn around and you weren’t there.”

“Thanks for noticing,” Renjun said drily. “But if you want to keep going you can and we’ll meet up with in a while. No one else should have to go through this,” he sighed as Jeno and Jaemin came out of the rooms at the same time, wearing the exact same shirt. They didn’t even wait for Renjuns opinion before high giving each other and disappearing again.  
“Frankly I even feel bad for the store attendant at this point,” he pointed to the man who clearly had tried to help Jeno and Jaemin at some point but was now just ferrying clothes they wanted to the counter and then coming back. 

“There’s a coffee shop just down the street,” Mark said.  
“We almost got to it before we came back here. Do you want to go there?” he turned to Donghyuck. 

“Yes please I could use some hot chocolate and like ten pastries.”

“Alright try to stay strong Renjun,” Mark said, getting up and patting Renjun on the back rather solemnly. 

“Make your boyfriend buy me something cute too,” Donghyuck said before following Mark out of the store and back onto the street. 

They hurried into the coffee shop, the interior filled with light music and the smell of all the good things Donghyuck’s mind could conjure in that moment.  
His sweet tooth was just having a field day. 

Mark stopped next to him, looking around the store. “I’ll go and order,” he said. “What should I get for you?”

“A hot chocolate please and then anything to have with it. Just, uh surprise me.”

“Okay I’ll surprise you,” Mark laughed a little, a tiny laugh that barely carried across. 

Before he could allow himself to think about it, Donghyuck hurried to a table at one end next to the window. He slid into the chair at the far end and watched Mark place their order at the counter.  
Marks hair was curled just slightly around his neck and ears and Donghyuck couldn’t stop staring at it, even as Mark walked back to the table with two plates in hand. 

“Here you go,” he slid on of the plates across the table to Donghyuck. There was a flaky layered pastry sitting on it, something who’s name Donghyuck was sure he didn’t remember. 

“It looked like something you’d enjoy,” Mark said, sounding slightly worried as he watched Donghyuck stare at it. 

“No I love this,” he looked up, aware that he’d almost totally forgotten Mark was there even as he thought of Mark. What was happening to his brain? He sounded like Jeno when he wouldn’t stop talking about Renjun. Donghyuck usually went into autopilot when Jeno started a Renjun loving rant but now looking back he was pretty sure he remembered Jeno saying this was how he felt when he’d started crushing on Renjun. 

Mark was looking at him oddly, as if he could read Donghyuck’s thoughts in that moment. He met Mark’s eyes and found something in them that he thought would never let him go.  
“What did you get?” he blurted out a little loudly, hating the way he was acting. He’d been texting Mark on and off since they met in Amsterdam but this was the first time they’d properly spent time together and it felt like his body was accelerating everything he was feeling, as if it had forgotten the pace it usually functioned and instead decided to match his heartbeat in those moments. 

“Oh I’m not sure,” Mark looked down at the pastry sitting in his plate. “It just looked good. And besides I barely speak enough English to hold a conversation so I just point to whatever I want and hope I actually like it.”

“That’s kind of cute,” Donghyuck said. His eyes widened when he realised what he said but there was nothing wrong with calling your friends cute right? He did it all the time with Renjun. But then he didn’t want Renjun to hold his hand while they ate french pastries. 

“Do you want some?” Mark asked already digging in. 

Donghyuck shook his head, focusing on the white diamond pattern dusted on top of his pastry. He picked at the cream between the layers, his mind both quiet and empty and thinking furiously about Mark.  
Soon their drinks arrived, and a little while after that the rest of their friends, Jeno and Jaemin holding several large paper bags.  
They all sat down, the table feeling weirdly crowded after it only being him and Mark. 

Everyone else got something to eat and drink for themselves and laughter and banter bounced back and forth between them.  
At one point Renjun caught Donghyuck’s eye and seemed to pick up on something, but Donghyuck just shook his head not wanted to get into this now, he’d talk to Renjun and Jeno when it was just them alone.  
Renjun picked up on his meaning but he kept glancing at Donghyuck then Mark, a thoughtful look on his face. 

The night started drawing to a rapid end, Mark and Jaemin making promises that they’d meet them again in a couple days time, the last free day they had in Paris before they had to fly back home. 

It was late when they finally parted ways, and got back to their hotel.  
Donghyuck knew Renjun wanted to talk to him, he could practically feel Renjun’s thoughts hammering away at him.  
Ignoring him he flung himself straight into bed, hoping that a good nights sleep would help him clear his thoughts. 

_______

“You’re crushing on Mark aren’t you?” Renjun confronted Donghyuck the next morning before they barely got out of bed.  
“What,” he said, rubbing his eyes and blinking at Renjun’s face that was a so close to his it was blurry.  
“Move,” he pushed Renjun away before flopping back down. 

“Don’t lie, I know you are,” Renjun said, not moving an inch. 

“No, I’m not. I just think he’s a little cute but that’s normal. Even Jeno thought he was cute.” 

“Did you?” Renjun whirled around to face Jeno who was sitting on the bed next to Donghyuck’s. 

Jeno turned red. “Yeah I mean he is decent looking.”

“Well I know you Hyuck,” Renjun said a little more softly this time. “I know you’ve only known him for a little while but it’s fine if you’ve got a crush on him.”

“Oh my god,” Donghyuck rolled into his stomach and pressed his face into the pillow. “Fine I think he is cute and maybe I am crushing on him a little,” he said into the pillow. Unfortunately Renjun was still close enough to hear him. 

“I think Mark might have a crush on you too,” Renjun said thoughtfully. “I watched you too yesterday, and I think it’s really cute.”

“You were watching me?” Donghyuck said, finally coming up for air. “Renjun that’s weird.”

“Is it? Jeno was doing it too.”

“Don’t throw me under the bus. It was your idea,” Jeno said. 

“Yes but-“ Renjun started but got violently cut off by Jeno throwing himself onto Donghyuck’s bed. 

“Jaemin just texted me,” he said, then promptly started laughing after he read whatever Jaemin sent. 

“What did he say?” Donghyuck asked, curiosity taking over him. 

“Jaemin said,” Jeno started, then stopped to laugh again. “He said that I should tell you that Mark wants to know if you’d like to meet later today. Why didn’t Mark just text you himself? Hold on I’m going to ask Jaemin.”

The attention was starting to make Donghyuck feel fidgety, so he pushed his way past Jeno and Renjun who were both sprawled on his bed and made his way into the bathroom. 

“Apparently Mark’s phone is dead,” Jeno called out to him as he was brushing his teeth. “But Jaemin said that he doesn’t really believe that and he just thinks Mark is feeling shy. Oh my god this is gold.”

_____

The rest of the day passed in a blur, Donghyuck strangely excited - or was it not so strange considering his now apparent crush - to see Mark.  
He flew through the last assessment, finishing almost an hour before his friends and spent the rest of the time bouncing on his toes and trying to stop smiling. 

“Jeno you have to help me look as good as possible,” he said later, already pulling everything out of his suitcase. 

After a lot of unnecessary fussing, he’d finished getting ready and waited for Mark, who finally arrived waiting in the lobby. 

“What’s up?” Mark said in lieu of greeting and before waiting for an answer pulled Donghyuck out onto the street.  
“Yesterday we didn’t really see much of the city so I thought we could take a walk. Jaehyun took me around and it was really nice so...” he trailed off. 

“Sounds like a great idea,” Donghyuck said, wondering if Mark would hold his hand again. “We haven't had much time to just wander around the city, you know, because most of sightseeing stuff we did was either for art or architecture or something.”

Mark called a taxi and the two of them drove across the city, stopping occasionally at places Mark wanted Donghyuck to see. To him, it was a perfect afternoon, he was completely comfortable in Mark’s company and found it rather refreshing to not be doing everything as the third wheel of Renjun and Jeno’s couple.

He was right in wondering if Mark would hold his hand again. Later in the afternoon already a few hours in, Mark and he were walking along the Seine, other couples and people riding bikes also traversing the tree lined banks. He'd been contemplating Mark’s hand for a while now, it kept brushing up against his, but he couldn't pull up the nerve to just hold it Cursing himself, he finally steeled his resolve but before he could move Mark casually slipped his hand around Donghyuck’s. 

Smiling to himself, he allowed himself to relax next to Mark, his heart beating hard in his chest as they walked, looking like every other couple they passed. 

There were so many things that Donghyuck was taking back home from this trip.  
On his last day in Paris, a day left free for the students, he’d decided to meet Mark yet again, spending a couple of hours alone with him before joining up with his friends again.  
Mark’s friend Jaehyun, who’d seemed to hear all about them, invited them to his apartment for a meal. It was one of the most enjoyable days of his entire trip so far, split between spending time with Mark and enjoying actual Korean food all before the sun had even set. 

He’d take away the happiness he’d felt at each turn, before he’d met Mark and after he met him. He’d take away the newfound friendships and the years that came with it.  
He’d take away the nonsense souvenirs and good memories. 

As he packed his bag he thought of all these new things he’d be taking back.  
There was one last thing he’d take. 

The next day, in the hours before they had to leave for the airport, Mark told Donghyuck to meet him in the cafe downstairs.  
It was not much of a goodbye, because they both knew that they’d see each other in just over a month, when Mark flew back to Seoul. Jaemin has already made plans with the rest of them. 

The air between Mark and Donghyuck was undetermined, Donghyuck aware of his crush on Mark but reluctant to act upon it.  
In the seconds before Donghyuck had to leave, Mark mumbled something that he could barely hear. 

He tilted his head in confusion, ready to ask Mark to repeat it before Mark took a deep breath and asked him again. Asked Donghyuck if he could kiss him before he left.  
Rendered speechless, Donghyuck took a second to process what Mark was asking before nodding and moving forward to press his lips against Marks. 

This was the last thing he took with him back to Seoul.  
__________

Before he met Mark, a month would fly by, it always seemed a rather insignificant period of time.  
That was until he had to wait for a month for Mark to return from Europe.  
Every so often he’d catch himself thinking back to the the last time he saw him, a couple hours before they had to leave for the airport, Mark messaging him to come and meet him at the cafe attached to the building they were staying in.  
He’d think about how Mark laughed and how Mark’s hair made a little curl over his forehead and he’d think about how Mark kissed him right before he left.  
He’d think about how rapidly the feelings and emotions built up inside of him and he’d think about what he’d say to Mark when he was back home, because talking to Mark face to face was just very different from talking to Mark over a series of endless text conversations.  
He thought about all these things until the day itself arrived and he surprised Mark at his parents house - rather unromantic but he couldn’t get to the airport and where else could he have surprised him.  
And when he kissed Mark outside his house, he pondered in the kiss and wondered if it would be this way with every kiss, with every moment with Mark. 

———

The apartment in front of Donghyuck was small when compared to most but to him it would be the center of his whole world. A wall of windows flooded the lounge and dining table with light, lighting up the figures of his friends all laughing together. He and Mark has just moved in and soon they’d both be at a great turning point in their lives. 

“Can you guys not yell i’m trying to appreciate the moment,” he sighed. 

“Hey we should take a picture to remember this,” Jeno said. 

“Yes! I brought my camera,” Renjun scrambled off the couch and dug around in his bag, pulling out two cameras. 

“Two? That’s a little extra,” Donghyuck said, joining the others on the couch. 

“Shut up Hyuck. Mark come and take a picture with us,” Renjun called out, flicking on his giant digital camera. “I want some nice pictures okay.”

In no time at all he’d set his camera on a stack of books, the 5 of them squashed on the couch, sunlight painting them all gold.  
Mark was next to him, his arm wrapped around Donghyuck’s shoulders and Mark’s head resting slightly against his where Mark was leaning on him.  
Renjun insisted on taking a bunch of pictures before Mark leapt up in horror remembering that he’d left food cooking in the kitchen. 

The rest of them messed around with Renjun’s polaroid camera for a while, a small stack of photographs accumulating on the table and Renjun complaining about how expensive the film was before he’d get pulled back in.  
Donghyuck took a picture of Mark in the kitchen, one hand holding a spoon, the other in a peace sign, his face completely scrunched up from his smile. He’d stuck it above his bed. 

Later, after they’d all eaten and left, Mark and Donghyuck crashed onto the couch, Mark picking up the pictures that were left behind and looking through them. 

Donghyuck’s head was full of the excitement of life, the next few months in which he’d graduate and Mark’s budding career in music.  
Just thinking about it made his heart swell with emotion and he glanced up at Mark. 

“What?” Mark asked him, a smile on his face.  
“I was just thinking about how far we’d come from Paris,” he smiled back, the memories pleasant.  
“We really have. It’s pretty romantic if you think about it.”  
“Was it? I only remember you annoying me in Paris. Making Jaemin message Jeno to ask me if I’d like to come and spend time with you? That was so funny.”  
“I was shy stop,” Mark whined.  
“It wasn’t really romantic until we got back to Korea though,” Donghyuck mused.  
“Fine Paris wasn’t romantic,” Mark said. “I guess we’ll just have to go back there then.”  
“I guess so.” Donghyuck kissed him.  
He had his whole life to do things with Mark and he couldn’t have asked for anything better.


End file.
